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The overall prices of fancy colored delinced by 0.2% in the first quarter of 2019, influenced mainly by the continuing decline in the yellow category, while pink diamond prices performed best, rising by 0.5%, according to Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). The Q1 2019 Fancy Color Diamond Index also concludes that blue diamonds showed a very slight decrease of 0.2% during the period, while yellow diamonds prices decreased by 1.5%.

The Shirley Temple blue diamond caught everyone's attention exactly three years ago when it hit the auction block at Sotheby's New York with an estimated price between $25 million and $35 million. The highest bid was $22 million, which was below the ring's reserve price and it failed to sell.

A twin-stone colored diamond ring featuring fancy vivid blue pear-modifiedbrilliant-cut diamonds of 3.06 and 2.61 carats was the headline item at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels auction on 16 April, selling for $6.7 million, or $1.2 million per carat. The hammer price fell right within its $6-$8 million pre-sale estimate.

Botswana's state-run Okavango Diamond Company today (April 17) unveiled the polished result of what is said to be the largest blue diamond ever discovered in the southern African country, one of the world’s top producers. The 20.46-carat, oval-shape fancy colored diamond, fashioned from a 41.11-carat rough stone recovered on May 21 2018 at the Orapa mine, has been named "The Okavango Blue" in honor of the Okavango Delta, the country's wildlife-rich world heritage site.

Firestone Diamonds recovered of a 72 carat yellow, makeable diamond from its Liqhobong Mine in Lesotho, during the past weekend. The 72 carat diamond was recovered together with a 22 carat makeable white stone, followed by an 11 carat fancy light-pink stone. These diamonds will go on sale via First Element tender house at the next tender in Antwerp, which is scheduled to take place from May 8-14 2019 (see the entire Antwerp tender schedule here).

Gem Diamonds has recovered an exceptional, 134-carat Type I yellow diamond from Letšeng Mine in Lesotho, the miner's third important find in recent weeks and its second remarkable colored stone this year. It has been nearly two years since Gem Diamonds recovered a yellow stone of that magnitude.

With the 2019 edition of Baselworld getting underway Thursday, Graff Diamonds has revealed two of the three Fancy Vivid Yellow Diamond watches to be showcased. Yellow diamonds are extremely rare, so it takes patience - and good contacts - to collect enough to set them in a timepiece or a piece of jewelry; it can take years to source enough stones of the same color, intensity and size. Each watch is built in 18-karat yellow gold to underscore the brilliance of the watch's diamonds, and each features round and fancy oval diamonds that are meticulously set by hand.

Diamond Fields Resources, based in Vancouver, sold 47,298 carats of Namibian marine diamonds for $1,105,530 at a tender in Antwerp, including a 5.71 carat pink diamond which sold for $97,076 or $17,000 per carat. This was the first sale of diamonds from the ML111 licence offshore Namibia since mining resumed in 2018.

Gem Diamonds Ltd. has sold a 13.33 carat pink diamond on tender in Antwerp for $8,750,360. The price achieved sets a new high on a dollar per carat basis for a Letšeng diamond, at $656,933. For the sake of comparison, over the course of the 2018, Gem recovered a 138.28-carat white diamond which achieved US$60,428 per carat - the highest dollar per carat for a white rough diamond during the year - and a a 4.06 carat, pink diamond that earned US$64,067 per carat - the highest price per carat achieved during 2018.

At the 2019 Oscars, Lady Gaga wore a necklace featuring a 128.54-carat, 141-year old "Tiffany diamond", dubbed "one of the largest yellow diamonds in the world." It is reportedly worth over $30 million. Audrey Hepburn was the last lady to wear the incredibile, yellow, cushion-cut diamond it back in 1962 for publicity posters for Breakfast At Tiffany's. Last night marks only the third time in history that the Tiffany diamond was worn in public; before Hepburn's spin, the diamond was first worn by Mrs. Sheldon Whitehouse at the 1957 Tiffany Ball held in Newport, Rhode Island.

According to new research published by the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF), one of the most overlooked facts concerning the diamond industry is that the world’s diamond mines are rapidly depleting. Within a quarter of a century, the majority of the 45 most notable diamond mines operating today will cease to exist, and the last diamond will be unearthed in 60 years. According to the FCRF, diamond prices will rise as supply wanes.

Russian diamond miner Alrosa has mentioned several times recently that it is aiming to become the leader in the international market for colored diamonds, and is making its case with a media preview of its collection of large colored diamonds, including unique pink, bright yellow and pink purple gems. The star of the show was a pink oval diamond weighing 14.83 carats - the largest pink diamond in the history of Russia.

Gem Diamonds recovered a high-quality 13.33 carat, pink colour Type I diamond from the Letšeng mine in Lesotho on 7 February 2019. The prices for diamonds of this color of diamond are typically exceptional. In the first half of 2018, when Gem recovered 10 rough stones larger than 100-carats at its Letšeng mine, the highest price achieved was $62,433 per carat for a 2.26-carat pink diamond.

The price of vivid yellow diamonds is expected to rise this year as a result of declining supply, according to Q4 figures from the Fancy Color Research Foundation (FCRF). Jim Pounds, FCRF advisory board member and executive vice president of diamond at Dominion Diamond Mines, which has produced high levels of vivid yellow as its Ekati mine in Canada, commented, "as the mine transitions from open-pit mining to underground, a substantially reduced amount of stones will be available during 2019. Therefore, we anticipate a slight increase in vivid-yellow prices.”

Mountain Province Diamonds will include in its upcoming, February rough diamond sale an exceptional quality, 60.59-carat, fancy vivid yellow rough diamond. The diamond was recovered at the Company’s Gahcho Kué Mine in October 2018. Also included in the sale will be more than 50 other large, high-quality white and fancy-colored rough diamonds. Viewings will take place between February 11 to 21 at the offices of Bonas-Couzyn in Antwerp, Belgium.

A ring made by Bulgari and set with fancy vivid blue diamond weighing 8.08 carats was sold for $18,312,500 at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels auction, beating its presale estimate of $13 million to $18 million. The cushion-cut Type IIb Fancy Vivid Blue of natural color, VS2 clarity garnered $2.27 million per carat, and was the top lot at the Magnificent Jewels auction, which totaled $69,225,750 and also included a rare, 15.56-carat heart-shaped pink diamond set in a pendant, selling for $9,537,500.

Russian diamond miner AGD Diamonds, which in September acquired an 100% stake in Antwerp-based Grib Diamonds N. V., the international sales arm for rough goods produced at the Grib Diamond Field, held a public auction last week for the sale of special-size diamonds (10.8+), earning a total of $14.1 million. The lots included large-size top-grade diamonds, including a unique bright yellow colored stone weighing 57.03 carats, which had been extracted by the Grib Mining and Processing Unit on June 18, 2018.

The “Pink Legacy”, a diamond weighing just under 19 carats, fetched 50.375 million Swiss francs ($50 million), at Christie’s Magnificent Jewels sale in Geneva, setting a world auction record. U.S.-based luxury jeweler Harry Winston, owned by Swatch, purchased the rare gem, Christie’s said on Tuesday, and promptly renamed it “The Winston Pink Legacy”. The Fancy vivid pink, VS1 clarity, Type IIa cut-cornered rectangular-cut diamond weighing 18.96 carats, was sold for $49.9 million, or $2.6 million per carat, which is a world record price for a pink diamond.

Russian diamond mining company ALROSA extracted 28.59-carat rough yellow diamond at its Ebelyakhplacer deposit in July. The diamond is of deep greenish-yellow hue, and following the company's assessment, the color of the stone is defined as the rare Fancy Intense Yellow. It is currently the largest yellow rough diamond mined at ALROSA's deposits since the beginning of 2018. JSC AlmazyAnabara, a subsidiary of ALROSA, unearthed the stone.

A Fancy Pink diamond weighing 5.03 carats, VS1 clarity, sold for more than $2.9 million, or $583,551 per carat at Bonhams London Fine Jewelry sale last week (26 September), setting a new auction world record for a Fancy Pink diamond per carat. The previous auction record for a Fancy Pink diamond held by Sotheby's Geneva, May 2016, was $528,021 per carat.

Russian miner ALROSA's first “True Colours” auction of fancy colored diamonds garnered $9 million from 210 stones. Described as, "another significant step towards our goal of becoming the world leader in the production of coloured diamonds," the bidding was very active, the company said, and most of the lots were sold for well above their starting price.

Christie's has announced that the 18.96-carat Pink Legacy – the largest and finest Fancy Vivid Pink diamond the auctioneer has ever put on the block – will be offered for sale at their Magnificent Jewels auction in Geneva on 13 November. With an estimated price of $30 million to $50 million, it has the potential to break the record price per carat for its color category. That record is currently held by ‘The Pink Promise’, an oval-shaped Fancy Vivid Pink diamond of just under 15 carats, which Christie's sold in Hong Kong last year for $32,480,500 - an incredible $2,175,519 per carat.

Lucapa Diamond Company today announced that a selection of large, premium-value Lulo diamonds will be the first Lulo production sold through new marketing channels being introduced as part of Angola’s diamond sector reforms, which represent a milestone for Angola's rough diamond trade. Additionally, Lucapa has exported its first parcel of ~2,500 carats of diamonds recovered from the Mothae kimberlite diamond mine in Lesotho to the global diamond trading centre of Antwerp, Belgium.

Russian diamond miner ALROSA presented its first ever collection of large, fancy-colored polished diamonds at the Hong Kong Jewelry & Gem Fair, marking the initial stage of their new strategy to become the world leader in the production of colored polished diamonds. The collection showcased in Hong Kong is comprised of 250 diamonds of different shapes and hues, with the auction scheduled for September 19. "ALROSA polished branch now focuses on the processing of large and coloured diamonds and the subsequent sales," said Evgeny Agureev, Director of the United Selling Organization of ALRO

Rio Tinto’s iconic Argyle Pink Diamonds Tender is being showcased to connoisseurs and collectors from across Asia in Hong Kong; the miner has also unveiled a one-of-a-kind pink diamond and emerald necklace during a world exclusive preview in Hong Kong. Headlining the 2018 collection of 63 pink, red and violet diamonds is The Argyle Muse, a 2.28 carat polished oval diamond, the largest purplish red diamond ever offered at Tender. Rio expects it will be highly sought after by collectors and connoisseurs from Asia where the colour red is highly symbolic.

From the Martian Pink from the Perfect Pink, the Sweet Josephine to the Pink Promise, Christie’s jewelry specialist Marie-Cécile Cisamolo tells the stories of the ten most prized pink diamonds the auction house has ever sold. Prices for top-quality, large pink diamonds have increased exponentially in recent years, driven by collector demand and increasingly limited supply. Pink diamonds gain their highly desirable color as a result of a rare, naturally occurring slippage of the crystal lattice in the stone while it is forming deep within the Earth’s crust.

POZ Minerals Ltd., a phosphate producer that holds a 100% interest in the Blina Diamond Project and also explores for phosphate and gold properties, annouced it will place a bid for the Ellendale mine after the state government’s call for investors in the asset last week. The Ellendale Project was mined from 2002 to 2015 and previously produced about half of the world's highly valued fancy yellow diamonds.

Russian diamond mining giant ALROSA is planning to showcase a unique collection of large, fancy-colored diamonds at the Hong Kong Gem & Jewelry Fair in September, reports Rough & Polished. The collection of diamonds the miner will showcase includes 250 stones of different shapes and colors (including very rare colors) - purple, pink, orange and vivid-yellow - and is said to be the largest collection of fancy-colored stones the company has ever presesnted.

The Western Australian Government is seeking expressions of interest to reopen and operate the Ellendale diamond mine in the Kimberley region of Western Australia, reports Australian Mining. Ellendale previously provided about half of the world’s highly-valued fancy yellow diamonds, of which US jeweller Tiffany & Co was a major client. Mining operatoins ceased in July 2015 when Kimberley Diamond Company (KDC), which had operated the mine from 2002 to 2015, entered into administration.

Namakwa Diamonds, the majority owner of the KAO mine in Lesotho, has announced the discovery and upcoming sale of its latest exceptional find, a 29.59 carat Fancy Pink diamond, named ‘The Rose of KAO’. The Rose was found on 12 June this year at Namakwa Diamond’s flagship mine KAO in Lesotho (owned 74.99% by Namakwa Diamonds, the rest by the government of Lesotho). The Rose will be shown and tendered in Antwerp with Bonas-Couzyn NV during KAO's fourth sale of the year (KAO-1804) from late September to early October.

Rio Tinto's Arglye mine in Australia - the world's main if not only source of pink diamonds - may be heading for closure in 2020, but not before going out with a bang. The miner will headline one of its last ever pink diamond tenders with the Argyle Alpha vivid pink diamond, weighing 3.14 carats, which was actually uncovered in 2015. It the largest stone of its color in the history of the annual sales event.

Australian-listed Lucapa Diamond Company Limited recovered an 89.75-carat yellow diamond from the Mothae Diamond Project in Lesotho. The diamond was recovered from the current bulk sampling program at Mothae as construction of the new 150 ton-per-hour commercial diamond plant continues on schedule for H2 2018 commissioning, the company said.

Dominion Diamond Mines will hold an online auction of its latest production of fancy colour and +10.8 carat rough diamonds, in co-operation with I. Hennig Tenders, on Thursday, 19 July 2018. Dominion says the most recent production from the Misery kimberlite pipe, of the Ekati Diamond Mine in the Northwest Territories of Canada, has delivered a quantity of exceptional yellow fancy colour stones, which will be presented for sale at the upcoming auction.

Lucapa Diamond has recovered 25 carat yellow gem diamond from the Mothae kimberlite mine in Lesotho during first two days of trial processing following bulk sampling plant modifications, causing them to rethink their expectations for the mine. "Significantly", they note, "the gem-quality Special was recovered from the Neck Zone of the Mothae kimberlite" which is not part of the current +1 million carat resource estimate. They also recovered a 6 carat diamond during the first two days of trial processing of material from the Neck Zone.

The world's leader in rough diamond output, Russia's ALROSA, plans to boost revenue from selling rare, colored stones where demand is stable, according to the head of ALROSA's sales division Evgeny Agureev. The global market for polished colored diamonds is now dominated by Rio Tinto and De Beers, but it apparently ALROSA aims to makes some changes to its sorting and processing in order to compete. “We hope that ...

Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction held in Geneva yesterday, May 15, certainly lived up to its name, as the historic Farnese Blue diamond - given in 1715 by the Philippines to the Queen of Spain Elisabeth Farnese, wife of King Philip V of Spain - smashed its pre-sale estimate of $3.7 to $5.3 million, earning $6.7 million at the fall of the hammer. It was the first time the exceptional 6.16-carat, pear-shaped, fancy dark grey-blue, SI1-clarity stone had ever appeared on the market, after having remained in the same family for over three centuries.

Lucapa Diamond Company has recovered a gem-quality 46 carat pink diamond from the Lulo Diamond Project in Angola, the largest gem-quality coloured diamond recovered to date from the Lulo mining operations. The 46 carat pink eclipsed the 43 carat yellow gem recovered in January 2018 and the 39 carat pink recovered in September 2016.

A 3.09-carat rectangular-cut Fancy Intense Blue diamond sold for more than $5.375 million at Christie’s New York Magnificent Jewels auction last Tuesday, setting a world record price for an intense blue diamond at $1.739 million per carat, nearly doubling its pre-sale high estimate of $2-$3 million.

Sotheby's Magnificent Jewels and Noble Jewels auction to be held in Geneva on 15 May will feature some remarkable diamonds, most notably two large D flawless diamonds, each weighing over 50 carats, and the historic and highly important Farnese Blue, a Fancy Dark Grey-Blue diamond weighing 6.16 carats. Both of the diamonds belong to the highly rarefied sub-category of Type IIa diamonds, which make up just 2% of gem diamonds and boast the highest optical transparency. The first